Journal #1 Code of the Suburb
Introduction
The introduction of the book sets the scene of who, what, where, and maybe why. There
are middle-class, suburban drug dealers in the Atlanta, Georgia area. More specifically in the
town they call Peachville. 90% of the population was white and well educated, which I thought
was extremely high. Although the town seems “orderly and peaceful” as the book says, its crime
is hidden well. I think the crimes that are committed are either ignored or not seen as a problem
because of the people that make up Peachville. There will be thirty suburban drug dealers that we
will hear from throughout the book. I wonder how many of them will be men and how many
women. The variety of substances that they sold was marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, meth, LSD,
and mushrooms. None sold heroin or crack cocaine. I think they did not sell these two because
they are considered more extreme.
Chapter 1
The chapter starts off with talking about how someone is cool or lame. If an adolescent
seems to have more knowledge about drugs it can make them seem cool even if they do not
come from a high status. I thought it was interesting how the dealers described marijuana. It was
as if they were speaking another language, using terms like “shwag” and “mid grade dank”. I
thought it was interesting when Christian (dealer) said that using weed cost him a lot in high
school but he said he got a $75 allowance so it helped in a sense. It shows how privileged he is
for getting a $75 allowance per week and spending it on drugs, which was common. Drug
dealing was seen as a good option for many, not because of the money they would earn but the
drugs they could get for “free” in a sense. Most saw the money they made as just extra or
